Activity Introduction
Quick Summary: Students will be immersed in and connect with the documentary film Chasing Asylum. They will engage with the film from critical, emotional, cultural and ethical perspectives and understand some of the background of the film while also considering the intentions of the filmmaker.
Chasing Asylum exposes the real impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies through the personal accounts of people seeking asylum and whistleblowers who tried to work within the system. To watch the documentary, stream it on Kanopy and Clickview or purchase the DVD at the ATOM Education Shop.
Learning Intentions:
- Students will understand how to actively view documentary films.
- Students will consider the importance of context and background when critically considering a documentary film.
- Students will engage with the Chasing Asylum documentary as the filmmaker intended.
21st Century Skills
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions
Year 10 English
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Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)
Syllabus outcomes: EN5-8D
General Capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Intercultural Understanding.
Cross-curriculum priority:
Relevant parts of Year 10 English achievement standards: Students evaluate how text structures can be used in innovative ways by different authors. They explain how the choice of language features, images and vocabulary contributes to the development of individual style. They develop and justify their own interpretations of texts. They evaluate other interpretations, analysing the evidence used to support them. They listen for ways features within texts can be manipulated to achieve particular effects.
Topic: Social Issues.
Unit of work: Stories of Chasing Asylum – access the unit overview here.
Time required: 120 minutes.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – set up AV equipment, set film context and supervise student viewing of film.
Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet. Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a film to the class, projector and speakers. (A purpose-specific viewing room would be ideal.) You will need to access the Chasing Asylum film by streaming it from Kanopy or purchasing the DVD at the ATOM Education Shop. Other factsheets: Chasing Asylum – Film Synopsis, Documentary Viewing – Factsheet, Things to address before viewing and studying Chasing Asylum.
Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.
Keywords: documentary, asylum seeking, refugee, migrant, immigrant, emigrant, persecution, sovereignty, nation-state, citizenship, statelessness, whistleblower, policy.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
Teacher preparation